The seasonal New York Mets and New York Yankees face off has unquestionably produced its fair share of extraordinary moments.
Today, the New York Yankees will head over to Flushing to play host to their crosstown rival, the New York Mets in order to kick off this year’s Subway Series.Overall, the Bombers own the edge with 60 wins compared to 44 losses and own a two-game winning streak dating back to last season but since their first official game in 1997, we’ve seen some incredible and entertaining moments between these two squads.
Over the years, this rivalry between two brothers has split the city and has provided New York baseball fans with an insane amount of standout moments. Some produced shock, laughter, anger, and joy.
Who could forget the epic flare between Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza? Or the disbelief on the fans of both sides after Luis Castillo dropped that soft pop up?
Without spoiling any more remarkable moments in this interleague rivalry, let’s take a look back at the most memorable Subway Series moments.
Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mentions:
July 10, 1999: Matt Franco’s walk-off single:
May 19, 2006: Wright walks it off:
June 5, 1999: The El Duque glove toss:
Mo Records Save Number 500:
Next: Oct. 25, 2000
5. Oct. 25, 2000: Jeter Gets The Party Started
2000 was a great year to be Derek Jeter, wasn’t it?
Not only did he take home the All-Star game MVP honors, but thanks to this memorable Subway Series moment, “El Capitan” was able to secure the World Series MVP honors as well.
On the first pitch in Game Four, Jeter led off the Fall Classic contest with a home run on the very first pitch against Bobby Jones, which sparked the Yankees to a huge 3-2 triumph against their little brothers.
More importantly, that win that put them up 3-1 in the series which would lead to an eventual three-peat.
Next: July 8, 2000
4. July 8, 2000: Clemens VS Piazza, Episode I
The first of many altercations between Piazza and Clemens initiated on this pitch in July of the same year that the two would square off in the World Series.
After allowing a grand slam to the now-Hall Of Fame catcher, Clemens came up and in with a fastball and drilled the beloved Mets’ backstop in the head.
After being drilled, Piazza continued to stay on the ground for several minutes and was held out of action for a week with a concussion.
That healed. What didn’t heal, though, was the hostile relationship the hit-by-pitch nurtured between two of baseball’s top superstars. You bet they would see each other again, and what was at stake would be even larger.
Next: Oct. 25, 2000
3. Oct. 22, 2000: Clemens VS Piazza, Episode II: The Bat
Told you we’d see these guys again.
As hard as it is to believe, Piazza was having a harmless at-bat against Clemens in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series but it would all change with one pitch, one swing, and one broken bat.
The Mets’ catcher took a half swing at an inside fastball which caused his lumber to split. The split end made its way up the hill and into the hands of the Yankees’ ace.
Then came a random and unnecessary maneuver. Clemens took it upon himself to not only remove the broken shard of the bat from the field of play, but chuck it like a madman wanting to cause bodily harm.
He could scream “I thought it was the ball” all he wanted, but the throw could best be described as intentional and dangerous as it gets.
Next: June 12, 2009
2. June 12, 2009: “He Dropped The Ball!”
Power vs power, K-Rod vs A-Rod with the game on the line. It should have come down to this but the result of the at-bat between Francisco Rodriguez and Alex Rodriguez was as unexpected as they come.
After walking the red-hot Mark Teixeira to face him, A-Rod hit what appeared to be a harmless pop-up to shallow right field that should have secured a victory for the Mets.
However, the second baseman Castillo backpedaled and as he reached out to make a one-hand grab, the descending pop fly popped right out of his glove.
Then, Castillo threw the ball to second base without noticing the Yankees’ first baseman was rounding third and scoring the winning run in the most improbable fashion.
In a game that saw the lead change a total of six times, the Yankees would take it 9-8 thanks to the inability to use two hands.
Next: Oct. 26, 2000
1. Oct. 26, 2000: Three-Peat
This day in 2000 doesn’t get more memorable.
On October 26, 2000, the New York Yankees took home their third straight World Series title, their fourth in five seasons, and their 26th as a franchise.
Mariano Rivera closed it out, Jeter won the World Series MVP, all in front of a Shea Stadium that remained astringent as the Bombers added yet another title to their collection.
That 2000 team was not, by any means, one of the greatest teams in the franchise’s long history of championship teams but this was the team that pulled off the three-peat. Since then, no other team has won two in a row.
It just doesn’t get any more memorable than that.